Fukui City

Fukui City (福井) is the capital of Fukui Prefecture along the Sea of Japan. While Fukui's city center does not offer many major tourist attractions, multiple sites of interest are found in the forested hills and along the rocky coastlines outside of the city. Foremost among them is Eiheiji Temple, a headquarter of Zen Buddhism. Furthermore, there is the Fukui Dinosaur Museum, one of the best museums of its type in the world.

During the Era of Warring States, the region was ruled by the influential Asakura Clan with a bustling castle town at Ichijodani outside of today's city center. The clan was eventually defeated by Oda Nobunaga and the castle town destroyed. In contrast, Maruoka Castle has survived the feudal and post-feudal era without being destroyed, making it one of only twelve original castles left in Japan.